The Master of the Golden Apples
by frozenwizard
Summary: Steve wasn't always a good guy. He made mistakes too, such as making a Master Apple that proved to powerful. A few hundred years later a strange player named Ace spawns into Minecraft and must unravel all the damage done, starting with his pet pig and villager friends. Sorry, I suck at summaries. Please just read and find out. Reviews wanted, rated T just in case.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE **

Steve took off all of his diamond armor. After all, he wouldn't need it after this. He placed everything in his inventory into his chest, only leaving a flint and steel in his hand, 8 golden apples and a block of diamond. He would need his golden apples and the block of diamond for his new test creation. He wasn't sure if the mod would work, but Steve had no choice now. Steve marched to the crafting table and placed the diamond block in the middle and surrounded it with the 8 golden apples. Steve took the finished creation out, and it looked like an enchanted golden apple with streaks of diamond on it.

Steve knew he shouldn't eat the apple, or what Steve called it, the Master Apple. He knew there would be side-effects, perhaps nausea or being unable to think clearly. But despite all the risks, if everything had been calculated correctly, Steve would be _invincible._ He would be the master of the golden apples, and he could end the Ender dragon's evil reign.

Outside of Steve's window was a whole army of zombies and Endermen, swarming out of the extreme hills and marching into the plains biome – to the direction of Steve's house. Steve knew this was not normal mob behaviour but the great Ender dragon had no doubt summoned his last great army.

But that was not all.

_Zombie Villagers!_

_So the great village of the east has been savaged, too. _

_There is no one else to take my place. If I must die tonight I must not let the heir to the rangers die in vain._

Steve took a huge bite of the Master Apple and gulped the rest down quickly, as if knowing if he stopped to taste it, he might decide to not eat the Master Apple at all.

Steve knew if he had calculated wrong, it would be his last look at the Overworld. Instead of looking at zombies as his last memory, he decided to look at the sky. Suddenly, his vision turned a pale white.

_Stars. So many stars. This is the end, and the leader of the rangers was right._

_I should have trusted Notch._

Steve felt like he was being split apart. Everything was in pain at once, and Steve knew if he wasn't invincible from the Master Apple, he knew he would have died from taking the many thousand hearts of damage. He waited for the effect of the Master Apple to suddenly disappear and die a painful death.

Instead, his eyes flashed and Steve was thrown backwards. His crafting table disintegrated and Steve's whole house sparkled with colour, and Steve could almost feel the colours bouncing off of him.

Steve was looking into white eyes again. But this time the eyes were not Steve's.

"Steve," said the voice. "I am your past, beginning and end. I am the hero, the true miner in your spirit."

Steve didn't know what to reply with. He wasn't even sure if he could _talk._

"Too long have you spent gardening your farms and caring for your chickens. You have haunted this plains biome for long enough, too scared to fight or retreat. Thanks to your Master Apple, I can turn into my true form."

Steve felt the flint and steel being wrenched from his hands.

"Remember today, Stevie," said the voice, "I am the _true_ hero."

The last word seemed to bounce from across the house, going through the open door and echoing to the hills.

Hero. _Hero. HEROBRINE…_

"I am the true hero."

Then the true power of the Master Apple surged into Steve's veins, and _everything_ happened.

Everything around Steve started to fade, the swarming zombies, the TNT that Herobrine had lit up and the teleporting Endermen.

Steve punched Herobrine with his bare fists, and he could feel thousands of hearts of damage coming through him. The nearest mobs of zombies were vaporized immediately.

"You cannot fight me, Steve," said Herobrine. "You are not the Master of the Golden Apples, much less the true lord of the mod. _I am._ I am the hero."

Steve remembered nothing more. The whole world started to fade and Herobrine started to disappear.

It sounded like the wind was whispering into Steve's ear.

_Herobrine. Herobrine. _

_Master of the Golden Apples._


	2. The Village of Tutis

_**If you liked the prologue, I hope you'll enjoy the first chapter, where the story really begins…**_

**CHAPTER 1**

The first thing he realized was that his hands were hurting. They felt like they were bursting with energy, able to blast the bark off of a tree in seconds. Then he realized he was holding something in his clenched fists, and it was a nametag. He looked at it, and it took him several seconds to decipher the writing.

"The nametag reads _Ace_," said a voice behind him.

He jumped, and came face-to-face with a long nosed man who was dressed in a white robe.

He had a million questions, but his jaw felt like a stone. A dumb useless unmovable rock.

"My name's Murphy," said the white robed man. "I am a local villager of this small village of Tutis, which happens to be one of the safest places you can be."

When he made no reply, Murphy said, "Is that your name on the nametag?"

"Ace." He was surprised when he could move his mouth. In fact, after he said it, the word sounded familiar to him. "Ace. That's right! That _is_ my name!"

"Do you remember everything now?" asked Murphy.

"What do you mean?" asked Ace.

"Our Iron Golem carried you back last night, after the second zombie siege in a row. You could speak our language but when we asked you questions, you had no memory. Then, at midnight, your body disappeared. We had thought you were dead. But this morning you respawned here, and with you, a backpack."

Ace only understood only half of what Murphy had just said.

_Iron Golem? _Ace wondered. _And a backpack? And what is 'respawning'?_

Ace turned around and saw that there was a backpack beside him. He quickly pulled it out, hoping it would reveal some of his lost memory. Because when Murphy had brought the memory thing up, Ace tried to think about something. After trying, the only thing that came up to Ace's mind was a golden apple. But he decided not to bring it up.

"An enchantment book!" exclaimed Murphy.

Ace studied the book that had been in his backpack. On the top, written in small golden letters, was the word _Smite._

"Smite," whispered Murphy. "You could be that hero in the legend! You could be The One!"

Ace didn't know what to say. He wasn't exactly sure what 'Smite' was but he could tell it was a big deal. Maybe Murphy was a librarian.

_Librarian?_

As Ace said that, Ace was sure he would remember something. It felt like it was trying to explode out of his mind, but Ace didn't know what the memory was. Frustrated, Ace took his nametag and shoved it back into his backpack.

"I still don't know what's going on," said Ace, "and I want to know what's happening here."

"And you will." Ace wasn't sure if that was good news or not, and he didn't like Murphy's tone of voice.

"Come with me."

Ace followed Murphy out of the house and his legs shook unnaturally as he walked on the gravel path. The enchantment book was still tucked under his arm, and he could feel other villagers staring at him as he followed close behind Murphy.

Murphy stopped at a well and Ace wasn't sure what he was going to do until a villager head popped out of the water and bobbed around in the well.

"What happened?" asked Ace.

"This happens all the time," answered Murphy. "Some foolish villagers fall into the water well for no reason at all."

"But why don't you just help them?" asked Ace.

Murphy made no reply but continued to walk forward. Ace was about to follow, but he couldn't just leave a villager behind. Despite his lost memory, he knew it wasn't right to leave a fellow villager near certain death.

_Maybe this is a test,_ thought Ace. _Since Murphy thinks I'm going to save this village. Maybe I have to prove myself, instead of just having a backpack with a book called Smite._

Ace dropped his book and leaped over the well. He grabbed the villager with one arm and grabbed onto the cobblestone beside him. He pulled, but the village didn't seem want to come out of the well.

"Come on!" said Ace. Ace slipped on the block of cobblestone and splashed into the water.

He flailed and struggled, but he was drowning. The villager didn't seem to want to help him, either.

"Help! Murphy! Anyone!" Ace couldn't see anything but a wall of blue. He couldn't breathe, and he couldn't bear to think dying inside a well, when he was supposedly destined to save the whole village.

A last instinct pushed in, and Ace didn't know if it was a shot of adrenaline or if it was the recovery of a lost memory before death. All Ace knew was he was popping back up to the surface, and he wasn't going to die at all. His body shot out of the water, and hit the cobblestone that was blocking his way out. He tried to climb it, but he found it hard to stay floating and jump out at the same time. He had no choice but to start pounding on the block.

His fist ached. He didn't know if it was fifteen seconds or fifteen hours that took for him to break the block. All he knew was that he was dripping wet, and the villager that had been trapped gave a quick nod to him and marched off without saying even a _thank you_ to Ace.

"You saved the villager," sayed Murphy.

Ace had to blink twice before he confirmed it was Murphy. Murphy was holding his _Smite_ book and nodded to Ace. "We better get going now."

Ace could feel anger rising to his head. _What was that all about_ was what Ace wanted to scream, but he was too exhausted and tired.

Ace was so tired he lost track of time and accidently bumped into Murphy when he stopped.

"This is the great church of the village," said Murphy. "The leader of Tutis lives here."

"Who wants to live in a weird tower?" asked Ace.

Murphy opened the door for Ace. "Why don't you ask Sophos that?"

"Sophos?"

"That would be me," answered a voice from above Ace. Ace quickly climbed up the ladders while Murphy waited for him at the bottom. When Ace was at the top, he was looking into a villager that looked a bit like Murphy but much older and wiser. His nose was equally as long but his purple robe seemed to be dusty as if the villager had never bothered to dust it off.

"I am Sophos, the great priest of Tutis," said the purple robed villager.

Ace suddenly became very self-conscious that he was dripping wet. "Hi…I'm Ace…well, I don't know what my name _is,_ but is sounds familiar, so…I guess you could just say that's my name."

Sophos circled around the top of the church. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah," answered Ace. "This other villager, Murphy, mentioned you."

"Murphy…" Sophos quickly climbed down the ladders without a warning. Startled, Ace tumbled off after him and landed in a heap on the cobblestone floor. He looked around and saw Murphy and Sophos looking down at him.

"Do you know what the word _Smite_ means?" asked Sophos.

"Not really," admitted Ace.

"_Smite_ is a type of enchantment that severely damages the undead mobs."

"Like those zombies Murphy was talking about?" asked Ace.

"Correct. We have had two zombie attacks in a row already. That is quite unusual in the village of Tutis. But I believe that some old evils are awakening. Do you know who Cyrus is?" asked Sophos.

Ace didn't know who Cyrus was, but Sophos and Murphy did seem freaked out by the name.

"Anyways," said Sophos, "we must take the roll of the gambit. You must recover you memory, for we believe it will save this whole village – and stop any awakening evils."

Ace couldn't believe it. He had no memory, and for no reason at all, he was supposed to save a whole village that he didn't even know before?

But as Ace thought of that, he remembered that he had _no_ memory – of anything.

"I'll do it."

Murphy and Sophos smiled. "Are you sure of this?"

"If I can get all my memory back," said Ace.

"And you will. There have been no great prophecy since the passing of The Ranger, but maybe you will change it all."

Ace walked out of the church. "What do I need to do?"

"You must learn how to survive. Me and Murphy shall train you for three days. Then, you are alone."

Ace shuddered at the word _alone_ and wondered if he had made the right decision. The sun was starting to set, and Ace knew he had no choice.

"When will the training begin?"

"Tomorrow morning," answered Sophos. Murphy led Ace into a small villager hut and Ace closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.

As he slept, the only thing that was in his dreams was the terrible face of Cyrus, which also seemed familiar to Ace.

_**Thanks for reading the first chapter, and I sure hope you liked it. I'm so excited! Can't wait until I start chapter 2…**_


	3. The Journey Begins

**CHAPTER 2**

Ace spent 3 days training with Murphy and Sophos. He learned how to safely mine, how to craft items and practiced combat against zombies that the Iron Golem brought in for Ace. After the 3 days of training, Sophos decided Ace was ready.

"We have prepared you all we can for your short journey," said Sophos.

Ace hoped that meant that the journey was going to be short and easy, not short because he would probably die in a few minutes.

"The old blacksmith of Tutis has long waited for a hero to come," continued Sophos, "he had crafted an iron sword, using the iron from the side of our great Iron Golem."

"That Iron Golem that saved me?" Ace asked. He didn't understand why the Iron Golem would still protect villagers that took part of its arm and turn it into an iron sword.

"The very one. Ace, your time has come. Whether you live or wither I entrust you with _the_ Iron Sword of Tutis."

Murphy marched up beside Ace and handed him the iron sword.

Ace lifted it gently and found it surprisingly smooth and light. He swung it and the iron sword slashed off a bit of the wood from a nearby village hut.

"Be careful, now," said Murphy. "You need to do that kind of stuff at the zombies that try to kill you."

Ace looked at his iron sword. It definitely did look like it could kill some mobs.

When Ace looked back up at Sophos, he realized Sophos was holding his enchantment book, _Smite._

"We don't call it an enchantment book for nothing," explained Sophos. "You can use this to enchant items and make tools and weapons stronger. If you remember from Murphy's lesson, what the Smite enchantment does to a mob?"

"Um…" Ace had to admit he hadn't been paying much attention to Murphy's classes, because they were boring and just flipping through old books and maps. But at last, Ace said, "It deals more damage to the undead mobs. Zombies, Skeletons, yeah…"

"Zombies will be the kind of mob you will meet the most in that cave you will go to. May this sword protect you with its Smite," said Sophos. Sophos started to walk back to the church and Ace hurried after him.

When Ace arrived there was a large anvil on the middle of the floor.

"Put your sword here," commanded Sophos.

Ace did what Sophos said.

"Now I'll put Smite here. You usually need Experience Orbs to enchant but since I am a priest I can do this." Sophos pushed the sword through the enchantment book and the book disappeared.

Sophos passed the sword to Ace and Ace looked at the glowing blade. The iron sword felt heavier but still much lighter than Ace had thought.

"You must get ready on your journey. We must pack all your food, your map and this sword for you for tomorrow morning. You must leave tomorrow morning, sharp. I may be able to travel with you for a while."

Ace was grateful that Sophos was willing to help. "Thanks. Tomorrow morning. I'll get Murphy to get me some carrots that are growing in the farm."

"Go ahead. I'll meet you at your hut tomorrow early in the morning."

Ace thanked Sophos and left the church.

If Ace had known that would be the last time he would see Sophos alive, Ace would have asked more questions.

But Ace didn't, and that was also the last time Sophos saw Ace.

When Ace woke up the next morning, he knew something was wrong. _Really_ wrong. The sun was already up and Sophos was not at Ace's villager hut. The village also was eerily quiet instead of its usual buzz of noise.

Ace grabbed his iron sword and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

He opened the door and was face to face with a zombie.

Ace had no time to think. He punched the zombie in the face first and then let his iron sword do the rest. Sophos had been right – Smite killed the zombie almost immediately.

Seemingly as if it had come out of nowhere, an arrow zipped by Ace and marked itself onto the edge of Ace's villager hut.

He caught sight of the skeleton that was shooting at Ace, but before Ace even brought up his sword the skeleton went flying. The skeleton landed on the ground with a thud and the Iron Golem of Tutis slammed the skeleton down again.

The villagers hiding behind the Iron Golem cheered. The skeleton crumbled to dust and dropped 2 arrows and a bone. Ace picked up the bone and the 2 arrows, and Ace turned to see a villager looking at him.

It was Murphy.

"What happened, Murphy?" asked Ace.

"I tried to wake you up," said Murphy. "But you slept like a stone. There was a gang of zombies and skeletons. Most of the villagers survived. But a few didn't."

Ace looked at the group of villagers standing in a huddle beside the Iron Golem.

"Where's Sophos?" asked Ace. But Ace already had guessed the answer.

"Dead. Turned into a zombie villager and tried to kill more of us. The Iron Golem had no choice but to kill him, for the good of the other villagers."

_This has to be a cruel joke,_ thought Ace. _I am going to pinch myself, and I will actually wake up to find Sophos telling me I need to get ready for the adventure._

"We can't help you anymore," continued Murphy. "This village is now cursed, I believe, ever since the disappearance of our local blacksmith, Grond."

"Is Grond the blacksmith that made this sword?" asked Ace.

"Yes, and he went to the same place you were going to go to. And then Grond never came back."

Ace suddenly realized something. "You said I 'was' going to go there. I still am, right?"

Murphy sighed. "I still don't think you had enough training. If Sophos had gone with you, then…"

"Sophos is dead now. I can't count on him anymore. Will you come with me, Murphy?" Ace didn't actually know why he wanted Murphy to come along with him.

"I can't. But do you have those things we packed for you in your backpack?" asked Murphy.

"Yeah. I didn't even touch it again since we packed it."

"As I had said, we villagers of Tutis can't help you anymore. Ace, you need to find your own destiny. I don't know if we will ever meet again, but if we do, we will share our adventures."

"You adventures?" asked Ace. "We are you going?"

Murphy started to turn away. "You must go now. Take whichever path you wish."

Ace started to understand what Murphy was saying. He started to turn away, and Ace swore he heard Murphy say, "And beware of Cyrus."

The village disappeared in the horizon after Ace walked for 30 minutes. Ace decided to take a rest and he sat down beside a tree and munched on a carrot that Murphy had packed for him. As he ate, a pig crossed his sight. The pig started to stare at Ace, and Ace began to be annoyed.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Ace.

The pig made no reply.

Ace wanted to kill the pig just to test out his sword. He grasped the handle of the sword when suddenly another hand grabbed the sword and said, "Don't you dare kill that pig."

Startled, Ace jumped up, hit a branch from the tree and dropped the carrot he was eating. The pig marched up and ate the rest of the carrot.

Ace looked around for the person who had stopped him. Instead, he was looking at a pumpkin that was wearing a leather chestplate and some iron leggings and boots.

"Are you a person or a weird mutant Iron Golem?" asked Ace, and then realized he shouldn't have. What if it was hostile and became angered at Ace calling it a 'mutant Iron Golem'?

"I'm not offended, if that's what you were thinking," said the pumpkin man. "I'm a ranger, actually I'm _The_ Ranger, and so you can call me 'Ranger'."

"Um…do all 'rangers' wear pumpkins?" Ace was pretty sure Murphy had never mentioned anything about pumpkin-wearing rangers.

"We use this pumpkin as a helmet." Ranger took off the pumpkin helmet and smiled at Ace. Ace realized Ranger was not a villager, but different – almost like Ace himself!

"What's your name?" asked Ace.

"As I just said, I'm Ranger," said Ranger.

"I know you're a ranger, but what's your _real_ name? Like, your _name?_" Ace wasn't sure if that mad much sense or not.

"We shall find and see. But you are on a journey, yes?" asked Ranger.

Ace didn't know if he was supposed to trust Ranger. Murphy had warned Ace not to trust anyone that wasn't a villager from Tutis. But at the same time, the way Ranger talked and how Ranger looked a lot like an older version of Ace made Ace trust him.

"You're a ranger, so what do you guys do?" asked Ace.

"We protect pigs, for one thing, but I am here to teach you everything that Murphy the librarian villager left out."

"So you do know Murphy!" exclaimed Ace.

Ranger nodded. "We better start your training now."

_**Hope you liked the second chapter! I wonder if anyone can guess who Ranger actually is! And reviews…Please!**_


	4. In the Cave

_**Chapter 3 is here! Finally…And I want reviews! Please…**_

**CHAPTER 3**

"The first thing you need on this journey of yours is a companion," said Ranger.

Ace secretly wanted Ranger do join with him on his journey, because Ace knew he wouldk need Ranger's skills. After Ranger had taken his pumpkin helmet off he had fired his a few arrowa at a nearby tree. Ace had watched surprised at Ranger's accuracy.

"This pig that you were about to kill will about to be one of your most helpful companions of all time."

At first Ace thought Ranger was joking. He could almost imagine the pig wearing an iron helmet and charging at random zombies.

"I'm not joking. There is this rare item called a saddle. It is impossible to craft now, but an about two hundred years ago it was possible. I have one right here for you."

Ranger passed the saddle to Ace. Ace picked it up, and having loss all of his memory, had no idea what it was for.

"Pigs like horses are a useful mode of transport. By riding on it with a saddle you can sit back and relax while your chubby pink friend walks in the direction you want to. So now, Ace, take the saddle in your hand and put it on the pig!"

Ace did what he was told and the pig looked at him. Ace supposed by looking at its innocent face it did not realize that it was about to be a full meat serving of pork chops if Ranger had not intervened.

"What pigs like to eat the most are carrots," said Ranger. Ranger tossed a stack of carrots to Ace. "You have a crafting table with you?"

"Yes, Ranger." Ace pulled out his crafting table which surprisingly fit in his backpack. His backpack was almost full, with his map, his sword, some food, the carrots and the extra wood and a small stone pickaxe that Murphy had taught Ace how to make.

Ranger took out a fishing rod and placed it on the crafting table. "Now put the carrot here."

Ace obeyed Ranger's commands and successfully created a carrot on a stick. "Wait, so with this I can ride that pig?"

"You sure bet. He's going to be your best buddy real fast."

Ace hopped on the pig and put the carrot on the stick in front of the pig. The pig's eyes followed the carrot on the stick and started to chew on it as it followed the stick.

"This is pretty fun!" admitted Ace. "I don't even feel like turning him into pork chops anymore! Hey, pig, move!"

The pig stood there and burped loudly.

Ranger pointed at the carrot on the stick. "The carrot has been eaten fully. You'll need another one to get it going."

Ace sighed. "I think this is going to become very expensive, riding on a pig. Do you have any more of those finishing rods?"

Ranger pulled out a whole bunch from his bag that Ranger had tucked behind his leather chestplate. Ace was about to ask how Ranger could fit all the fishing rods in the little bag but suddenly there was a flash and when Ace blinked, Ranger had his pumpkin helmet back on.

"You already know how to make the carrot on a stick, so I'm leaving all the fishing rods with you to make them. I've been urgently called back. I hope to see you again, Ace. Please don't harm that pig of yours and all luck on you getting your memory back."

"C'mon," said a soft voice that seemed to be behind Ranger but Ace could see no one. "Let's go now, Steve."

Ranger flashed away, leaving only a small pile of fishing rods where he once stood.

Ace turned to his pig. "Well, we have a long more ways to go."

Ace created all the carrot on a stick he could and jumped onto his pig. Ace tried to think of the landmark that Sophos had told him.

_Look for the oak tree. Do not fear the haze._

Ace had no idea what Sophos had meant by the 'haze' but he decided he would learn soon enough. The sun was setting already and Ace hoped he would not have to encounter any zombies or skeletons before he arrived at the place. Ace was at great vulnerability sitting on his pig, as he would have to hold the carrot on the stick instead of his Smite iron sword.

He gripped the carrot on the stick tightly until finally a few minutes later Ace saw the oak tree. He ordered his pig to stay and munched a carrot quickly. Then he took out his Smite sword and plunged into the cave.

Once Ace landed onto the cobblestone ground, he could feel pain rocketing up his leg and his heart hurt. He wiped off a bit of sweat and started to move forward. Luckily there were torches placed about every 10 meters and Ace wasn't worried about falling into an unseen ditch.

The silence began to scare Ace as he jogged slowly through the cave. He was expecting the moans and groans of zombies, and lots of them. But instead, the only noise came from the eerie flickering torches that illuminated the path for Ace.

The cave tunnel started to go deeper down. Ace followed the torches, until there were 3 paths left for Ace. First he looked in the left path, the middle, than the one in the right. Ace was about to make his decision until suddenly he felt a sharp pain from the heel of his foot.

There was an arrow embedded in it.

Ace yelped and took swung his iron sword. Too late he saw the skeleton on his right, bow already raised and ready. Ace jumped up into the air and slashed at the skeleton with his iron sword.

_I have the Smite enchantment,_ thought Ace. _How hard can it be?_

A rain of arrows came down at Ace. Ace quickly rolled to one side, and came to look at who was the second culprit firing at him.

Ace had hoped that it was Ranger at first, but instead all he got was another skeleton. Ace had no choice anymore. If he tried to finish off the first skeleton, the other one would spear him.

Both skeletons fired, and Ace ducked down and both arrows thudded onto the cobblestone ground. Jumping to his feet, Ace picked up his sword again and ran for his life.

When he was sure that the skeletons had lost sight of him, Ace came to a dawn of scary realization.

He had run wildly into the middle tunnel, but went to 2 others. He was now hopelessly lost and all alone in a cave full of intersecting tunnels. At his grumbling stomach, he wished he had brought his pig's carrots with him.

Ace didn't want to go back and face the skeletons, so instead he continued to walk forward. That was when he finally heard his first zombie moan of the day, but it wasn't like he was looking forward to it.

Ace stumbled into the zombie in the next few minutes. He was continuing his aimless wandering until the zombie had shown itself. It was unarmed and all it had was a leather helmet. Using the skills Sophos had taught him, he quickly ran up to the zombie and fought him sword to hand. Because of smite, the zombie quickly disintegrated and it dropped some rotten meat and its leather helmet.

Upon picking it up, Ace noticed it fit perfectly. Too perfectly, like it was made just for him. Ace didn't try to think of it though, because he had no armor. He put it on and looked at the zombie's rotten meat. Ace put it in his backpack and tried to ignore it, but he could feel his hunger bar dipping down low. He quickly ate it. He knew Murphy had told him about rotten meat being poisonous, but Ace was too hungry to care.

Once the rotten meat had given Ace just a little bit more strength, Ace started to walk forward again. The torches started to seem as if they were spread further apart than before. Ace also noticed that the cave was starting to get dim. He took out his iron sword again and hoped that no zombies would spawn near him.

Ten minutes later, Ace was sure something or someone was following him. He could feel its eyes on his back, following his every movement. But when he looked around, there was nothing to look at except for more cobblestone and a few torches.

_Spider_ had been Ace's first thought. Sophos had told him that spiders could see through solid blocks. And the cobblestone seemed very solid to Ace.

Ace was very close.

It was a spider, but not just any ordinary spider. It was a cave spider, and it had crept up from its spawner a few feet below and started to follow Ace.

But the cave spider was not the only thing.

When Ace had defeated the cave spider with a quick 3 thrusts and slashes, he noticed that someone else was still watching him. He gripped his sword ever tighter even though he knew he would be no match for any hostile mob after being poisoned by the cave spider.

Then Ace saw it.

He saw the purple haze first, and then its tall body that stretched almost up to 3 meters.

"Enderman," whispered Ace weakly.


	5. The Messenger

_**Just thought you might like to know, this chapter contains a lot of history of this Minecraft world where this stuff takes place.**_

**CHAPTER 4**

The Enderman looked at him, and Ace turned away as fast as he could. Sophos had taught him not to look an Enderman right in his eyes.

Ace was in no position to fight the Enderman as he was poisoned and tired. He could feel the Enderman walking closer, and Ace tried his best to make it remain neutral.

But what Ace wasn't expecting was a talking Enderman.

"Ace," it whispered.

"How do you know my name?" asked Ace, looking back at the Enderman.

"All of the End Region speaks of you. And it is my job to utter it."

"Who are you?" asked Ace, but he still held his iron sword tightly. He wasn't going to risk anything, even if it seemed like it was a friendly talking Enderman.

"I am the Enderman that travels between the 4 dimensions. I travel from my home region so much I spend most of the time in the Overworld. I am the first Enderman. The eldest, the Ender. The Ender Dragon's top lieutenant. The chief of the Endermen, I am known as The Messenger."

_4 dimensions?_ Ace wondered. He quickly remembered what Sophos had told him. There was the Overworld, The Nether, and The End. What was the fourth dimension?

"So you're basically the messenger of The End?" asked Ace.

The Enderman looked deep into Ace's eyes. "The End speaks to you as a threat. But I do not think of it that way. Are you perhaps a gift to The Iron Golem, or a shrine to the fallen villagers?"

Ace had no idea what The Messenger was talking about. Ace was thinking of running away, but he wondered if The Messenger might freak out and use his Ender powers and do whatever an Enderman does. He wished Sophos had told him more about an Endermen, but he and Sophos had never really expected one to appear.

"Follow me. You will have the privilege of speaking to our great lord, the Ender Dragon."

The Messenger turned around and started to walk away.

"Wait, how do I know I can trust you?" yelled Ace. His voice echoed around the cobblestone tunnel, making it sound like there was a thousand of him asking the same question.

"If you do not follow me, I will leave you here to find your way out. That perhaps will take a few weeks at the least. This is the Ender's stronghold, and it will continue to be."

Ace knew he had no chance if he was left there alone. He had no rotten meat left and no carrots either. He quickly rushed after The Messenger.

The Messenger continued to walk, but at a slower pace now that he knew that Ace was following.

The path seemed to take forever. The Messenger didn't seem to be inclined to speak, so Ace just went over his conversation with The Messenger.

_The End thinks of you as a threat._

_You will have the privilege of speaking to our great lord, the Ender Dragon._

Sophos and Murphy had both mentioned the Ender Dragon. Murphy, being a librarian, had been responsible of teaching Ace a bit of the history of The World of Minecraft, which had no official name but referred to sometimes as 'The World'. The Ender Dragon had been the eldest of all mobs, and lay in its egg for what seemed like almost eternity. Then Endermen populated the End and then the Ender Dragon hatched and used the Endermen as servants. The building of the obsidian pillars began, and at about the very same time in the Overworld the slime began to spawn but later _the_ Iron Golem was created by the 6 villagers, and the Iron Golem ruled the land and protected the descendants of the Great Villagers. Zombies and spiders followed and it is a myth that the skeletons were first descendants of the Ender. A few years later the Nether started to amass its own army and later fought a total of 13 wars against both The End and the Overworld. The Wither was the king of the Nether and was in power for 28 years until its death. Then more Withers followed soon afterwards. Once _the_ Iron Golem faded away, the Ender Dragon took power and the Nether retreated to its own land.

Ace suddenly collided with The Messenger.

"We stop here, Ace," said The Messenger. "Before we go any further, I give you this as a tribute."

Ace was handed a block of iron.

"Great, what do I do with it?"

"Nothing, well…it's yours now, so you can do whatever you want with it. Make tools, armor, use it as a building block or something. But at the moment, I need you to focus here."

Ace looked up and saw The Messenger grabbing some iron ore out of the cobblestone wall.

"You know how to mine, yes?"

"Yeah, Sophos told me out how to."

The Messenger didn't question who Sophos was.

"This iron ore wall provides as a barricade for all the unnecessary zombies and skeletons from walking to the Portal Room," explained The Messenger. "Usually I can just move it out myself, but I'm in quite a hurry. Make a pickaxe and help me."

Ace fished out the crafting table from his backpack. He took the block of iron The Messenger had given him and he turned it into 9 iron ingots. Then he picked up 3 of them and took out 2 sticks that Ranger had provided him. He made the iron pickaxe and started to mine the iron ore wall.

"After this, I will need you to speak to our great lord," explained The Messenger. "I predict that he will gladly answer all your questions, even the ones you don't ask."

The way The Messenger said it made Ace shiver.

"Can I ask you a question first?" asked Ace.

"You just did."

"But like another one."

"Go ahead; I will answer it if I can."

"Who _is_ Ranger?"

The Messenger looked confused for the first time. Its purple haze started to drift upwards and looked like it was frowning. "Ranger?" The Messenger repeated.

"You know who Ranger is, right? I mean, you know who I am, and Ranger is like 50 times stronger than I am. Shouldn't The End be worried more about Ranger?"

"The name 'Ranger' is not mentioned in the prophecy. But I know of many rangers, but none of anyone who is called 'Ranger'."

"Well, he _is_ a ranger, but he told me to call him Ranger."

"That is very strange, unless he is a cursed ranger."

"A _cursed_ ranger?" he asked. Ace was starting to like talking with The Messenger. He was learning much, much more than Ranger and Sophos had taught him.

"Do you know who the first ranger was?" The Messenger asked him. The Messenger dropped another block of iron ore behind Ace. They had already mined through 5 layers of iron ore.

"Is it necessary for like 10 layers of iron ore?" asked Ace. He wasn't complaining, though, he knew he would be the one with the iron ore in the end.

"We had only 4 a few years ago, but that was a failure. The Ender mobs no longer speak of it. Anyways, the Ender Dragon and The World didn't just appear by itself. It is said that there were 3 Master Lords, the Miner, the Crafter and _the_ lord. They formed the world, and the descendant of the Miner is Steve, and Notch from _the_ Lord. He was the first ranger, and he roamed around the Superflat world until his later disappearance."

"Where do you think Notch went?" asked Ace.

"Where all great spirits go, the Aether, _the_ Iron Golem dwells there, so I suppose Notch would too. But in these last few years it has been identified that there are 6 Official Rangers – one for each of the Great Villagers."

"Which one do you think I met?" Ace hoped he met an important ranger. He remembered a different ranger say Ranger's name, but at the moment Ace just couldn't think of it."

The Messenger removed the last piece of iron ore and Ace's iron pickaxe hit nothing but empty air. Ace looked back at the iron ore hopefully.

"Later, if we have any to spare," said The Messenger, seeing the expression on Ace's face.

The Messenger started to walk forward and Ace followed after him.

"Can you name the 6 rangers?"

"Perhaps the Ender Lord will be able to answer that. I advise you to calm down at the moment, though, for you are about to speak to the Ender Dragon, Lord of Ender, the First Lord."

In front was a small silverfish spawner. Luckily for Ace, he was beside The Messenger and the silverfish turned the other direction as if they were afraid of The Messenger.

"I give you the End Portal," said The Messenger. He pointed at the large portal in the middle of the room.

"My villager friend said you need like Eye of Enders of something," said Ace.

"You won't need it. This one has already been activated for you, because the First Lord is awaiting you."

Ace looked at the strange dimension. It seemed so strange anything could possibly live and thrive there.

Thousands of questions went through Ace's head, but The Messenger tapped Ace gently on the back, he tipped over and began to fall in.

Then Ace blacked out.


End file.
